WASHINGTON D.C. (CelebrityAccess) — Following Ticketmaster’s turbulent Taylor Swift presale earlier this month, U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) have joined the fray, requesting answers from the Federal Trade Commission on the use of automated ticket purchasing software in online marketplaces.
The two senators, who are the ranking member and Chair of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security formally sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan, underscoring their belief that preventing the use of automated purchasing software is a key to ensuring a fair marketplace.
“The recent difficulties consumers have faced while attempting to purchase tickets is a serious concern and reflective of anti-competitive conduct in the online ticket marketplace,” said Senator Blackburn. “Fortunately, a solution is already in place that would go a long way in reducing ticket costs and protecting consumers and artists from scammers. The federal government needs to get serious about implementing my legislation, the BOTS Act, immediately.”
“The Better Online Ticket Sales Act gave the FTC and state attorneys general the tools they need to crack down on parasitic online ticket bots – now they need to use them. Without adequate enforcement of this anti-consumer software, regular fans are still being unfairly priced out of seeing their favorite singer or hometown sports team. We’d like to know what steps the FTC plans to take to ensure that consumers have fair access to the events they want to see,” said Senator Blumenthal.
Senator Blumenthal was one of the original co-sponsors of the 2016 Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act, which prohibits ticket scalpers from using automated software to purchase high volumes of tickets.
